Today’s flash news: Zulily attracts the most July visits for limited-time, discount sales

Zulily Inc., which offers limited-time, discounted sales on children’s clothes and related products, smoked its flash-sale competitors last month in the race for the most e-commerce site visits, according to new data from Experian Hitwise. Zulily.com attracted more than 6.6 million visits in July, representing 16.3% of all site traffic for the 87 flash-sale sites tracked by the web traffic measurement firm. The figures are for total visits, not unique visits, an Experian spokesman says.

Zulily is No. 589 in the Internet Retailer Second 500 Guide. Today, the e-retailer announced that it had raised $43 million in a third funding round.

Ideeli Inc., which is No. 310 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, held the second spot, with nearly 3.8 million visits in July and a 9.3% share. LivingSocial Escapes—the vacation package arm of the daily-deal provider and Groupon rival—was third, with 3.5 million visits and a 8.6% share. Rounding out the top five were Woot, the bargain site bought by Amazon.com in 2010, with just under 3.5 million visits and an 8.5% share, and HauteLook (No. 156 in the Top 500), which was acquired by Nordstrom Inc. (No. 34) earlier this year and attracted 3.3 million visits and had an 8.1% share.

Amazon.com’s recent entry into flash sales, MyHabit.com, ranked 11th in July, the site’s second month of operation, with visits totaling 1.6 million in July, up 128% since the site launched in May. Amazon is No. 1 in the Top 500 Guide.

Overall, visits to the flash sale sites monitored by Experian Hitwise reached 40.6 million in July, up 109% compared with the same month in 2010, and 368% compared with July 2009. “The popularity of flash-sale web sites with limited-time and inventory offerings have grown exponentially over the two years,” writes Heather Dougherty, Hitwise director of research, in a blog posting. “Online shoppers’ love for the thrill of snagging designer clothing, home décor, travel and even wine have caused visits to the category to increase.”

The Experian data also show that 30.8% of visits to the flash-sale sites for the four weeks ending Aug. 6 came from consumers with annual household incomes of at least $100,000. 27.1% of visits came from consumers with incomes of between $60,000 and $99,999, with the remaining 42.1% coming from consumers with incomes of less than $59,999.